Today I took out the Speed 3 12m for the first true session.
Only rode it once before, but in very low wind and only for a few minutes......only other riders were out on Speed 2 19m and Speed 3 19m.

Anyway today it was really gusty at Leo Carrillo.
The wind average was from 12mph to 22 mph.
Strongest gusts up to 28mph
Biggest lull to gust range at a given time was 9 to 25mph and 12mph to 28mph

Surf was kind of similar.... periods of small windswell to big surf. Surf was mainly in the 4 to 7ft range with the odd 10ft face.

The Speed 3 12m handled all of this really well. Super stable and exellent depower... keep in mind that most of the time I was strapless and went out with both a narrow 6ft surfboard and a f@#king fenomenal 6ft 4inch Aviso Lost Speed Demon II.
The combination of moderate to low bar pressure and oh so smooth and imidiate depower made it a breeze.

I was particularly intrested in how the Speed 3 12m preformed in the surf.
Well... the stability and drift is the best Flysurfer yet.
Amazingly nice to ride the bigger waves straigh down the line for the whole lenght on the beach and just let the kite drift. Right after that the other really strong point of the Speed 3 12m came into play. It goes upwind like nuts especailly with the Speed Demon. I would do the same lenghted tacks as I would do with other kites, but end up way higher up the beach and effortlessly.

For drift and surf down the line... this is a great wave kite.

In the bigger waves the Speed 3 12m was quick enough to throw it around and chase the kite, but there were times when I would have liked the faster turning Psycho 4 10m.
Still fast enough to loop the kite more than once in the surf.
I did find that the first turn to drop into the wave was way fast when I turned the kite while going from a tack to turning downwind. The kite snaps around really well. Once you are pointing downwind towards the kite it is not quite fast enough for kite chasing style.... but....
drift and surf I could snake down the line fast and practically forget the kite... best "forget the kite and drift" I have experienced. When ever I was done with the drift I could "wake-up" the kite when I wanted.
Also great depower for riding the wave upwind.
One really mice thing about the Speed 3 compared to the Speed 2 is that when you depower the Speed 3 it just depowered without the kite accelerating to the edge of the wind window. It just move forward a bit more. Nice for keeping the kite deeper in the wind window in the waves.

I also tested the relaunch. Very quick and easy, both with the board and without.
No problem getting it to reverse off the water quickly even in the surf. Did not want to test that deliberatly, but I had to.

What I don't like about the kite is the stock front line safety. I will be putting the 5th line on it.
Looks like a quick and easy modification. I just like the better control and full redundancy of the 5th line. The kite has additional dedicated 5th line attachment points.

As far as jumping goes no complaints, just a warning.... make sure you have a lot of room when you send the kite. Big lofty jump without being yanked like crazy. Even sending the kite quite gently will lift you up nice high and smooth. Float is great as you would expect from a high aspect ratio kite. Easy and quick redirecting of the kite.

Unlike the Psycho 4 the Speed 3 is a kite for both advanced riders and beginners. Such an easy kite to fly. I still find the Psycho 4 more exciting in tight surf or for pure acceleration but the psycho is not a kite for beginners unless you have very laminar winds.

What I did not have time to test was how well the kite worked in the surf with steering pressure set to full soft.
On the Speed 3 19m setting the steering pressure to full soft made it more resposive and faster turning.

How is the depower compared to the psycho IV? I´m thinking to go from Psycho IV 12 + Pulse2 8 to Speed III DL 15 + Psycho IV 10. In the psycho I don´t like that when you depower the kite in gusty winds (20´s knots) it acelerates so much to the edge, but I don´t know how much top end will lost from ps IV 12 to Sp III 15.

How is the depower compared to the psycho IV? I´m thinking to go from Psycho IV 12 + Pulse2 8 to Speed III DL 15 + Psycho IV 10. In the psycho I don´t like that when you depower the kite in gusty winds (20´s knots) it acelerates so much to the edge, but I don´t know how much top end will lost from ps IV 12 to Sp III 15.

Thanks

The Speed 3 has a lot of depower and plenty of stability even when fully depowerd.
Unlike the Speed 2 the kite remains resposive even when fully depowered.
I have not flown the Speed 3 15m, but judging from my experience with the Speed 3 12m and 19m
I think that you could easily go from the Speed 3 to the Psycho 4 10m.
I think that the top end of the Psycho 4 12m and the Speed 3 15m will be quite similar in that the Speed 3 15m is so easy to handle at it's top end while the Psycho is well... more of a Psycho.
You will be riding differently though with the Speed compared to the pscyho.
The Psycho pivot turns better, kite loops tighter etc

In the psycho I don´t like that when you depower the kite in gusty winds (20´s knots) it acelerates so much to the edge

The Speed 3 does not do this at all.

Anyway a friend of mine has a Speed 3 15m and I should get to try it soon.
He rode it yesterday for the first time, but furthur south and in a light breeze.
He told me he loves the kite and was suprized at how well it moved around in such a light breeze.

In order to give you a better idea what is your weight, boards and conditions (waves wind direction compared to coast line etc). What do you like doing... jumps, tricks etc.

Thank you for the report, I weght 70 kg (155 lbs) and ride with a F One Trax III (135 x 39 cm) usually inland conditions (gusty winds) and in my holidays I go to Tarifa and Portugal, always old school. Now I learning on land with a mountain board (mbs).
I´m thinking in the sp3 15 for 8 to 15/17 knots and the ps4 10 for 14/16 to 25/27 knots.

Thank you for the report, I weght 70 kg (155 lbs) and ride with a F One Trax III (135 x 39 cm) usually inland conditions (gusty winds) and in my holidays I go to Tarifa and Portugal, always old school. Now I learning on land with a mountain board (mbs).
I´m thinking in the sp3 15 for 8 to 15/17 knots and the ps4 10 for 14/16 to 25/27 knots.

Sounds just right to me.
I think that 27 knts for you with the 10m is really your topend unless it's pretty steady wind.

Forgot to say that for those "wild" days I have a wonderful Pulse2 6. I have ride with this kite from 20 to 35 knots in gusty winds (Levante, Tarifa), but 35 knots is my max high end and I was a bit scary in those conditions.

calbote wrote:Forgot to say that for those "wild" days I have a wonderful Pulse2 6. I have ride with this kite from 20 to 35 knots in gusty winds (Levante, Tarifa), but 35 knots is my max high end and I was a bit scary in those conditions.

Hey if you have a humming bird you are set! (that's what I call the Pulse 6m).
I have one too. Such a great little kite.

If you have the Pulse 6m to use when your Psycho 4 10m gets to nervous at the top end then your set.

Speed 3 15m DL
Psycho 4 10m
And
Pulse 2 6m

is a great setup for your weight.

High aspect ratio of your low end and low aspect ratio for your high end.

FredBGG wrote:
I was particularly intrested in how the Speed 3 12m preformed in the surf.
Well... the stability and drift is the best Flysurfer yet.
Amazingly nice to ride the bigger waves straigh down the line for the whole lenght on the beach and just let the kite drift. Right after that the other really strong point of the Speed 3 12m came into play. It goes upwind like nuts especailly with the Speed Demon. I would do the same lenghted tacks as I would do with other kites, but end up way higher up the beach and effortlessly.

For drift and surf down the line... this is a great wave kite.

In the bigger waves the Speed 3 12m was quick enough to throw it around and chase the kite, but there were times when I would have liked the faster turning Psycho 4 10m.
Still fast enough to loop the kite more than once in the surf.
I did find that the first turn to drop into the wave was way fast when I turned the kite while going from a tack to turning downwind. The kite snaps around really well. Once you are pointing downwind towards the kite it is not quite fast enough for kite chasing style.... but....
drift and surf I could snake down the line fast and practically forget the kite... best "forget the kite and drift" I have experienced. When ever I was done with the drift I could "wake-up" the kite when I wanted.

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Fred,

that's great news. Not what I would expect, since high-aspect kites usually dont "go with the wind" very well (even more so when depowered, because the L/D ratio gets even higher when the angle of attack diminishes), quickly slackening the lines when you ride towards them. Maybe the fact that the projected area changes when depowered has something to do with it? Or the kite is so stable that it keeps flying with slack lines?